Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Currently on the ballot here in Oregon is a measure, #35, that will put a cap on non-economic awards in medical liability suits. It's got a lot of support from the medical field and understandably from insurance companies.

Well, recently an add came out opposing it. the add features a "celebrity" spokesperson - Erin Brokovich.

you remember Erin, right? Julia Roberts made her a household name. She's almost universally hailed as some sort of crusading savior of the environment and the downtrodden. I was subjected to the movie, I've heard some interesting points of view from people on both sides of the issue, but that's beside my point right now.

What I find interesting is this: For whom did Erin Brokovich work when she was doing all her crusading? Oh, that's right, a personal injury lawyer. And what group of people might be most interested in seeing Measure 35 fail? Oh, yeah! Again, personal injury lawyers.

So while the pro-measure 35 ads have doctors and lawyers admitting freely that they have a personal stake in this issue, and urging us to side with them, we have on the other side of the fence a spokesperson who is representing herself as an informed but unaffected third party giving us advice, when in reality she has close ties to the one group who would be most negatively affected by the measure. And we're supposed to believe she's telling us for our own good.

Sorry, Erin, but you're not that good an actress. There's a reason someone else played you in the movie.

First they came for Logic, and I did not speak out, for I did not think logically. Then they came for Reason, and I did not speak out, for I did not think reasonably. Then they came for Thesis and Synthesis, and I did not speak out, for I did not think synthetically. Finally they came for me, and I could no longer think for myself.